


need love to feel strong

by waywardprentiss



Category: Perfect Harmony (TV)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Episode: s01e13: Regionals, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:00:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26178382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waywardprentiss/pseuds/waywardprentiss
Summary: Arthur seems to realize what they're doing the exact moment she does and they both pull back from each other slowly.She blinks up at him and sees the look of joy that was on his face earlier has turned to one of puzzlement.Ginny doesn't even have time to open her mouth or even think of something to say before Wayne exclaims behind them. "Shit!"
Relationships: Arthur Cochran/Ginny Hawlings
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	need love to feel strong

**Author's Note:**

> the one where arthur kisses ginny instead

Ginny felt invincible as she walked out on to the stage at The Pink Mare.

It wasn't hard turning down the job offer once she realized everything she's ever wanted was in Conley Fork.

She had Cash and he was happy where they were. She was on track to getting the manager position at the Moonbow and she loved singing with this choir.

What was she thinking? Even considering taking that job felt foolish now as she sings the opening lines to Ava Maria.

The beat pauses for a minute and she throws her mic into the crowd. She twirls around pulling off her robe to reveal her borrowed glittery ensemble as the rest of the choir comes up to join her on stage.

The opening cords of their Ava Maria/Believe mash-up starts playing and the club goes wild.

Singing, she walks back down the stage toward the curtain. "Ava Maria!"

She kneels down at the far end of the stage so one of the drag queens performing with them can help her put a wig on.

The moment Ginny squats down, Arthur peaks through the curtain at her. There's a soft look of amazement in his eyes.

After the wig is in place, she grins and winks at him before turning around to join the others in the middle of the stage. 

Yeah, she thinks to herself, this is exactly where I'm supposed to be.

She ends up dancing next to Wayne as Adams and Madam Adams absolutely kill the second verse of Believe. 

Once the chorus hits, Ginny makes her way to the back of the stage to join the other drag performers at the mic stands.

Once she reaches her mic, Arthur comes out from behind the curtain wearing a feather boa in the same shade of sparkly off white as her own costume. 

She gapes at him as he comes up behind her and touches her waist gently.

He smirks down at her and Ginny's cheeks hurt from how wide she's grinning.

He places his hand over hers on the mic as they both lean forward to sing together. "Ava Maria!"

Ginny sees the look of surprise on Reverend Jax's face further down the stage at Arthur's presence and can't help but laugh.

She turns around toward Arthur, not being able to keep in her excitement any longer and jumps up and down a few times with the beat.

He laughs along with her, his hand never leaving her waist.

While jumping, her hand had landed on his shoulder for balance and she squeezes it once she's stopped to catch a breath.

"Come on!" She grins, before taking his hand and dragging him further down the stage to join the others.

"Ava Maria!" She glances back at him as they sing together to see his face split in the biggest grin Ginny's ever seen.

She squeezes his hand as they come to a stop between Adams and Reverend Jax.

She turns to the right to sing with Reverend Jax, hand still in Arthur's. "I can feeling something inside me say, 'I really don't think you're strong enough!'"

Her attention is pulled away from him and onto the crowd just as everyone in the choir huddles in close to sing the last line of the song together. "Ava Maria!"

Everyone's arms go up, including hers and Arthur's still joined hands and the crowd goes wild with applause.

Ginny can feel Reverend Jax pull Dwayne into a hug behind her and hears them laughing with excitement.

She turns to Arthur, who's suddenly closer to her than she remembered and squeezes his hand again after their arms come back down.

His face is still lit up in a wide smile and Ginny's breath catches in her chest.

Before she knows it, he's let go of her hand in favor of wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her into a kiss.

She can tell everyone they know has gone quiet around them even with the roar of the crowd loud in her ears but Ginny forgets all of that for a minute. 

Almost unconsciously, she kisses him back and brings up a hand to touch his cheek.

Arthur seems to realize what they're doing the exact moment she does and they both pull back from each other slowly.

She blinks up at him and sees the look of joy that was on his face earlier has turned to one of puzzlement.

Ginny doesn't even have time to open her mouth or even think of something to say before Wayne exclaims behind them. "Shit!"

That makes both of them awkwardly shuffle away from each other. Which they can't really do, because of how close everyone still is, so they end up knocking shoulders. 

She's avoiding his eye when she catches the shocked look on Adams' face over his shoulder. 

She mouths at Ginny. "What the fuck!"

All she can do is shrug helplessly at Adams before the crowd suddenly storms the stage and all of the people who helped them perform come over to congratulate them.

She gets pulled in three seperate directions and none of them seem to be the same way Arthur's getting pulled. 

She thankfully pushes the kiss to the back of her mind.

-

After a while and what seems like a million different congrats and praises from at least a million different people, Ginny looks up and sees Arthur cornered by a group of people on the other side of the club.

She takes this as an opportunity to excuse herself and escape back to the dressing rooms.

She makes it about three feet before Adams is in front of her face. 

"God Almighty!" Ginny exclaims, clutching her chest.

At Adams' unamused look, she chuckles nervously. "What're you sneaking up on me like that for, girl?"

Adams closes her eyes briefly as if in pain. 

"Still can't pull off "girl", huh?" 

"Nope." Adams shakes her head. "No, you can not."

Ginny tries to use that moment to slide by her but Adams stops her with a hand on her arm.

"No. You're not getting away from me that easy. What in the world was that on that stage earlier!"

"I don't know!" She whines. "Heat of the moment, I guess."

At another unimpressed look, she rambles on. "Well, it's not like I kissed him! He kissed me! Not to say that I didn't enjoy it, of course. Or that I hated it. I mean, I didn't hate it! He is a very handsome man."

Adams smirks. "He does have that whole silver fox thing going on, doesn't he?"

"Right?" She drawls with a small smile on her face.

She leans in close to Adams. "But I don't know why he did it and between you and me, I really wanna get out of this costume. So, can we save this for later so I can go put on my blue jeans?"

Adams nods. "I'll come get you when the bus is ready to take us back to the Inn."

Ginny tilts her head. "Thanks."

"Now." Adams squeezes her arm before putting her shoulders back. "I got to go find Keith and convince him to let me keep this dress."

She watches as Adams struts across the club and her eyes land on Arthur, still in the corner stuck in conversation. 

Their eyes meet briefly but Ginny quickly turns around.

She all but runs to the dressing rooms.

-

After setting all the pieces of her borrowed costume to the side, Ginny settles in a stool in front of one of the vanities.

She looks in the mirror and tousles her hair a bit back in place.

She had thought that changing back into her jeans and blouse from earlier would make her feel better but she still feels like an exposed wire.

She leans forward with her elbows on the counter, groaning into her hands.

A knock makes her jump right out of her seat and the door opens slightly to reveal Arthur as he pokes his head inside. 

"Hi." He looks a little nervous. Well, for Arthur anyway. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah." Her voice breaks and she hurries to clear her throat to cover it up. 

She leans back against the counter. It digs into her lower back painfully right away but she refuses to move. "What's up?"

Arthur gives her a unimpressed look at her attempt of obliviousness.

"Can't blame a girl for trying." She mutters quietly, eyes on the floor.

Arthur comes further into the room. "Was it that bad?"

Grateful for his usually offended tone, she snaps her head up. "No!"

He looks shocked at her outburst so she continues. "No. It was- it was good. Nice."

She smiles softly as she says it and he looks down awkwardly scratching his beard. "Oh, well. Good."

After a minute, he looks up sharply. "Not that I planned to do that. I mean, it was kind of a heat of the moment type thing."

"Right." Even her describing it that way to Adams earlier doesn't stop the pain in her chest from hearing him say it like that.

He takes a step toward her. "That's not to say I didn't enjoy it. Or that I wouldn't maybe want to do it again."

She looks up from chewing on a fingernail and oh Lord, Ginny when did you start doing that? "Yeah?"

"Yeah." That same soft look he gave her earlier on stage is back on his face.

A smile breaks out on her face and she drops her hand to grip the counter behind her.

"Cool." She nods her head a little.

Arthur laughs as he closes the distance between them again.

"Yeah. Cool." He says a bit mockingly before capturing her lips in another kiss.

She hums into the kiss this time, savoring it and moves the hand that was on the counter up to grip his neck.

He leans forward slightly, deepening the kiss and touches the same spot on her waist, right at the curve of her hip, as he did before. Ginny has to repress a shiver.

She pulls back a little after a minute and caresses his bearded cheek. His eyes stay closed, his face seemingly free of worry. 

Ginny leans back in and kisses him even more passionately then she did earlier and before she knows it, they're necking like teenagers.

She couldn't tell you how long they stay like that, too lost in the feeling of his lips and his hands. 

He's making progress on the hickey he probably doesn't even realize he's giving her, when the door opens.

They both pause. Ginny slowly moves her hand down from the back of his neck to rest on his chest as Adams' voice breaks through the room.

"The bus is ready to take us back."

She looks over and sees Adams' eyebrows raised so high they meet her hairline. 

Arthur leans back from her neck, his breath tickling Ginny's cheek when he speaks. His voice is rough. "Thanks, Adams."

Her eyebrows stay raised until Ginny speaks.

"Yeah." She chuckles nervously, patting Arthur's chest. "Thanks."

"Well." Adams holds her hands up. "Okay, then."

Ginny can see Arthur trying to straighten out his clothes in front of her as his eyes glance down to his jacket.

She spares another look at Adams as the other woman heads to the door.

"Oh my God!" She mouths again, hands in the air.

Ginny can't help but grin and Adams winks at her before leaving the room.

She looks up at Arthur to see him shuffling a bit, trying to fix his scarf around the hands she still has on his chest.

He clears his throat and she drops her arms to her sides. "Time to go, I guess."

She smiles a bit to herself, charmed by his sudden awkwardness. "Yeah."

He rolls his eyes at her amused tone and steps back from her. "Okay, Miss Lead Soloist. Let's go." 

She preens a little as she goes to walk past him to the door. She hears him huff behind her but feels a reassuring hand on the small of her back as they leave.

-

The moment they get on the bus, everyone stops talking. 

They awkwardly make their way over to the last couple empty seats on the right side of the bus and Ginny can feel everyone's eyes on them. 

No one seems to know what to say, so Reverend Jax breaks the awkward silence.

"So." He draws out. "That was quite something to witness. But remember everyone, it's not any of our business."

Ginny hears Wayne huff. She throws him a dirty look and he holds his hands up.

"Fine. Whatever." He mutters.

Reverend Jax speaks over them. "Anyway! Dwayne, please do go on about your mother's peach cobbler recipe. I am dying to know what kind of cinnamon she uses."

Dwayne casts a concerned glance between her and Wayne but eventually starts speaking to Reverend Jax again.

After a minute, eveyone else seems to settle in to their previous conversations as the bus starts moving.

She twists her head toward Arthur while reaching up to scratch her ear.

"Should've known this would be the best gossip this town's seen since Karla's cousin ran off with that bald mailman." She mutters, trying to conceal her voice behind her arm.

"Oh God." Arthur whispers.

Ginny honestly couldn't tell you which part of that statement he's referring to.

She spends the rest of the ride nervously bitting her nails while Arthur ignores everyone around them by checking his phone.

-

Everyone goes their seperate ways when they arrive at the Inn except Arthur, who follows Ginny to her room.

As soon as she opens the door, he walks past her to the mini fridge.

"God!" He exclaims when he finds it empty. "Shouldn't have taken all of your liquor earlier."

He continues, muttering to himself. "Could use some of that right now."

"If you wanted to drink and wallow, you could've gone to your own room."

Ginny passes him to go sit in the chair in the corner by the window and take off her shoes.

Arthur sighs and drops down on her bed. "Sorry."

"That's alright." She says quietly.

Now that they're in her room together again all she can think about is the fight they had in here earlier.

By the look on his face, he's thinking of it too. "I'm sorry, again. For you know, earlier and for what I said."

"It's okay." 

He clears his throat. "How did that go? Did you get the job?"

"They offered it to me." She starts quietly. "But I turned it down."

"What?" He exclaims. "I thought that was what you wanted? Better life and all."

"I thought so too." She looks down at her hands. "But I realized that everything I wanted was in Conley Fork."

He gives her a puzzled look.

"I thought I had to be one of those people who has to flee the nest to be able to find something greater."

"But." She laughs. "That's not true for me. I like where I am now. Cash is so happy there and I love singing with this choir. With you."

She smiles at him. "What could be better than that?"

"Wow." Arthur appears speechless. "I don't know what to say."

Ginny gets up and goes over to sit next to him on the bed.

"I know not everyone could understand, especially not you." She smiles, knocking his shoulder with hers. "But this is what I want. It really is. And I'm happy with it."

He breathes out a laugh. "As long as it's what you want."

She smiles. "It is."

"Well, then. I'm happy for you."

They share a soft smile.

After a minute, Arthur asks quietly. "Did you really enjoy singing with me?"

"Of course!" She says suprised he even had to ask. "We're gonna have to include you in all of our upcoming performances."

He laughs. "Ha, no."

"Oh, come on." She pats his leg. "You have a beautiful voice."

He looks at her hand on his leg before covering it with his own. 

"Thanks." He squeezes her hand.

Ginny feels her face flush. She grips his hand tight. 

He looks at her with a soft smile and leans forward to rest his forehead against hers.

"Did you wanna stay?" She whispers against his lips.

His response is just as quiet. "I thought you'd never ask."

Ginny has just enough time to smile before Arthur's kissing her again.

He moves a hand up to cup her face and she moans softly against him.

She untangles their hands and moves up the bed, pulling him along with her. Once he settles on top of her, Ginny forgets just about everything else other than the feeling of his lips against her skin.

-

In the morning, he offers a quick apology for having to go back to his room to pack. 

Before he leaves though, he makes sure to drop one last kiss to her forehead.

-

It's been a couple weeks since they got back from Lexington.

Adams officially gave her the manager position and Ginny has been working her butt off. 

Between her new hours and choir practice, her and Arthur haven't really had time alone to sit down and talk about everything.

When they do find moments alone, and Ginny thinks they're finally gonna talk it all out, they just end up making out on her couch instead.

Dodging everyone's questions about them has been real fun too. She does not want to have that conversation with Wayne again. 

She was glad he got to get out all of his concerns, most of which involved Cash, she was very grateful to find out.

Ginny really did not need a jealous ex-husband on her plate right now.

After she reassured Wayne she was already planning on talking to Cash to make sure he was comfortable, he backed off.

Now all she had to do was talk to Arthur.

-

Exactly eighteen days after they get back from Lexington, she finally gets an afternoon off.

The moment her shift ends, she's on her way to Arthur's houseboat. When she arrives, Ginny peaks in through the sliding glass door and sees him slumped over on the couch.

She knocks on the glass. "Arthur?"

He sits up as she opens the door and almost drops the bottle of bourbon he's holding.

He sways a little from where he's sitting as she makes her way into his living room.

"What are you doing here?" He asks, squinting up at her.

"I had an afternoon off." She starts, coming over to him. She reaches out to take the bottle from him and is suprised when he lets her. "Thought we could talk."

Arthur scoffs at that before getting up from the couch and heading into the kitchen.

"Let's say we did and don't."

Confused, Ginny puts the bottle on the coffee table before following him.

"Are you alright?" She says with a concerned look around the place. She hasn't been here since they got back and the place looked even messier than usual.

Arthur laughs dryly from where he's standing in front of the sink with his head hung low. "Oh yeah, I'm fine."

She comes around to stand by him, leaning forward to look at his face. "Are you sure? You don't look so good."

Now that Ginny thinks about it, she hasn't seen him at the Moonbow in the last couple days.

She reaches out to touch his face but he pulls away before her fingers can touch his cheek. 

"Don't." He says roughly, closing his eyes as if he's in pain.

"Arthur, what-"

"Jean died on the 15th." He says abruptly, not lifting his head up.

Ginny's confused for a second before she realizes today's date. It's the 16th. 

She makes a small noise of understanding and he quickly turns around to go back to the living room to settle on the couch.

Ginny feels tears prickle in her eyes and covers her mouth briefly with a hand before clearing her throat and following him.

She gently sits next to him. "I'm sorry, Arthur. I didn't know."

"Yeah." His voice is muffled by the hand he has covering his face. "That was on purpose."

He rubs a hand over his beard before leaning forward and picking up the bottle of bourbon again.

Ginny lets him take a long sip before gently prying it from his fingers. "That's enough."

Her voice cracks as she notices how red his eyes are. 

He lets her place the bottle on the table out of reach. After a moment, he covers his face with his hand again and starts crying softly.

"Hey." Ginny says softly, leaning toward him to place a hand on his back. "It's okay."

"It's not." He says between quiet sobs. "I was a horrible husband. She deserved so much better than me. She deserved someone who'd at least wait a year before finding someone new."

She tries not to flinch at that, knowing he's in a lot of pain. Ginny starts rubbing his back. 

"That's not true." Her voice cracks again. "She was so lucky to have you."

He lets out another sob at that and Ginny pulls him closer. She rests her chin on his shoulder.

"It's not wrong to need someone to lean on, Arthur." She says quietly. "It's not wrong to need people to help you get through the hard times."

He chuckles wetly and drops his hand. Turning his head, he flicks his eyes up toward her.

Ginny smiles sadly at him, feeling a tear run down her own face. She reaches out to touch his cheek. "And to help you feel strong again."

His voice is rough with emotion when he speaks. "Thanks."

"I can leave you alone if you need time to yourself."

"No." He shakes his head. "Stay."

She gives him another smile and brings up a hand to wipe her face.

They sit there for a few minutes in silence before Arthur clears his throat. "You're right. She'd just want me to be happy. To move on."

"You know me and eveyone else in this town is here for you. We all care about you."

Ginny pauses a moment before adding softly. "I care about you."

He quirks an eyebrow up at her. "Slick move there, waiting until I'm crying on your shoulder to say that."

Before she can open her mouth to protest, he adds quietly. "I care about you, too."

She feels herself flush, and huffs out a laugh. Pulling away from him a bit, she shoves his shoulder lightly. 

His answering laugh is music to her ears.

"You really want to try this with me? I hate to say it but this is about as good as it gets." He says dryly, motioning to the mess around them.

"Yeah." She smiles at him, reaching for his hand. "This is nothing. I was married to Wayne, remember?"

"God." He groans, squeezing her hand. "Please don't compare me to a man with a snake tattoo on his arm."

"Fair enough."

They both lean back on the couch at the same time, hands intertwined. They sit there for another moment, before Ginny checks her phone for the time. 

She squeezes his hand to get his attention. He turns his head at the same time she does and they look at each other for a long moment. "It's past supper time. You wanna come by the Moonbow? Everyone should be there."

Arthur smirks. "Are you asking to go public?"

"They're all gonna be speculating anyway." She shrugs.

"Vultures." He mutters. "Sure, let me change first though."

He gets up after another squeeze of her hand and heads to the bathroom. 

"Don't forget the deodorant! You stink." She yells over the back of the couch.

He responds from behind the bathroom door. "You've already committed! You're stuck with it now!"

She grins, leaning back on her elbow over the back of the couch. 

"Yeah." She whispers. "I did."

-

They walk in to the Moonbow together. There's an obvious tension in the air but no one says anything at the two of them arriving together.

Ginny spots Cash right away sitting at the counter with Wayne and Dwayne.

She throws a look over her shoulder at Arthur and he points a finger to his usual booth. She nods before going over to her son.

She hears Adams and Reverend Jax great him from their booth further down as Arthur settles into his usual spot. 

"Hey, honey!" She says as she sits in the barstool beside Cash.

"Hey, mom! Dwayne just gave me this magazine about truffle hunting." He says showing her a magazine cover with a small dog on the front.

"Aw, that was so nice of him." She pats Cash's shoulder before looking up at Wayne and Dwayne. "You boys mind giving me a moment alone with my son?"

The two men look at each other for a moment before getting up without a word. They offer a polite hello to Arthur before going to stand near Adams and Reverend Jax's booth.

"Are you finally telling me you're dating Arthur?"

Ginny chuckles nervously. "What? No! Why? Where did you hear that?"

"Mom." Cash sighs. "Everyone in town has been talking about "The Big Kiss"."

He makes quotation marks when he says "The Big Kiss" and Ginny wishes the earth would just swallow her up.

She shakes her head, reaching forward to grip her son's hand. "Honey, I'm so sorry. You must think your mama is a big ole floozy."

"So, you are dating him?"

She hesitates, glancing over at Arthur who's trying not to look like he's staring at them. 

Once he notices her looking, he quickly drops his eyes down and fiddles with his scarf.

She looks back at Cash. "Yeah. We like spending time with each other. We're gonna see where it takes us."

Cash nods.

"What do you think, honey?" She asks gripping his hand tight. "You can tell me anything."

"I like him, Mom." He says, sounding almost offended she even asked. "He helped me with my dyslexia."

"Yeah." She smiles. "He sure did."

"He also makes you smile like that." Cash adds simply. "That's all that matters."

"Aw." She pulls him into a hug. "When did my little boy turn into such a smart young man!"

"Mom!" He exclaims as she squeezes him tight.

She pulls back to kiss his forehead. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too."

Ginny smiles, getting up from her seat. "Now, come on. Let's go sit with Arthur so he can stop pretending he isn't eavesdropping on our conversation."

"Hey!"

She winks at Cash before making her way over to Arthur.

Cash pipes up from behind her as they come up to Arthur's booth. "The fact that you even responded proves her point."

Arthur opens his mouth then closes it. "Okay, yeah, that's a good point."

Ginny winks at Cash and gives him a high five.

Arthur gets up to let her slide in on his side as Cash settles in across from them.

All of a sudden, Leanne appears out of no where with a coffee pot and a mug. 

"So, does this mean y'all knockin' boots or what?" She asks while setting the mug down in front of Arthur and filling it up.

Ginny sees Reverend Jax, Adams, Wayne and Dwayne not so subtly twist their heads in their direction.

Arthur picks up his mug. "I won't dignify that with a response."

Ginny lightly slaps his thigh under the table. "What Arthur means to say is that you could have phrased that a bit nicer."

"But yes." She says after a pause. "We're seeing each other."

Leanne simply smirks at them before leaving to go see about another table.

"Get it girl!" Adams exclaims, holding her mug up and Ginny grins.

"Yes." Reverend Jax says from where he's sitting across from Adams. "We are very happy for you both."

"Thanks, Reverend Jax." She says quietly.

Arthur nods politely at him but Ginny can tell that the smile on his face is one of genuine relief.

"You better not hurt her." Wayne says pointedly from where he's drifted back to lean against the counter again with Dwayne by his side.

"That's right." Dwayne nods. "Or they won't find your body."

Arthur scoffs. "I thought you were Mr. Pacifist?"

Ginny leans forward on the table, hiding a smile behind her hand while her eyes flicker between the both of them.

Her other hand finds Arthur's under the table and he squeezes it without pausing in his argument with Dwayne. Suddenly, she knows they're all gonna be just fine.

**Author's Note:**

> y'all can blame my crush on bradley whitford for this
> 
> title is from cher's song "believe"


End file.
